How to Check Your Employment Eligibility

Green cards? Passports? Visas? Just what exactly to they allow you to do? A lot of people coming to the U.S. are uncertain about whether or not they're able to legally work in the U.S. Now there's a super simple way to find out. The U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services recently unveiled a free online tool called E-Verify Self Check, that allows people to see if they're eligible to work in the U.S. before they start looking.

Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary, says the service is designed to help both employers and employees. Employers can ensure they maintain a legal work force, while workers are protected from potential workplace discrimination.

USCIS is releasing the E-Verify Self Check service in phases. At this point, it's offered to users that maintain a permanent address and are physically located in Arizona, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Idaho, Mississippi, or Virginia. More states will be added as the service is tested and improved.

It's a pretty easy system to use. Users enter basic information such as their name, birth date and address. Then they're asked to confirm their identity by answering demographic or financial questions generated by a third-party identity assurance service. After that, users enter work eligibility information such as a Social Security number or an Alien Registration number.

The system then checks users' information against relevant federal databases and returns information on users' employment eligibility status. If any mismatches are found between the information you provide and the information the government has on you, Self-Check will inform you of how to correct those mismatches.

And you'll be relieved to know that the results will not be shared with current or prospective employers.